When I first played Fallen Order on release, I was entertained but not exactly impressed by it. I found myself more intrigued by what it was going for than by what the game actually was. It felt like a solid foundation to build on in a sequel, but not exactly a great game in its own right. Fast forward to the sequel in question and I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised by Survivor. It definitely delivers on the foundations set by the first game and improves upon them in every way that a sequel should.
What really impressed me was how deep and varied the game's suite of customizations are, from Cal's entire look to his lightsaber and more. In lieu of this, there's a constant drip-feed of rewards for exploration and discovery in every nook and cranny, whether you're laser-focused on the main quest or not. Your efforts are constantly rewarded with new cosmetics and abilities that more than make up for the ho-hum exploration and level design of the previous game.
This stream of continuous rewards extends to all other aspects of the game too, primarily combat and traversal, with each new (story) area you visit rewarding you with either a new weapon, a new combat ability or a new way to get around the world. It's a simple yet very effective way to keep engaged with the game's already solid pacing while rewarding you with new opportunities to engage with the metroidvania-esque levels and tricky combat arenas.
Speaking of combat, thanks in part to the above plethora of options at your disposal, it's definitely much more enjoyable than Fallen Order. Not that it was bad there, but more so that once you got into a flow state with the combat systems, almost every fight felt like a breeze. Here, though, there's a barrage of new enemy types and weapons for both you and them to adapt to so it never becomes contrived and maintains a consistent ebb and flow between challenge and reward throughout.
When it comes to story and characters, once again, I enjoyed them much more and from earlier on in the game than last time. Fallen Order's story didn't really get intriguing until the back half, especially when Merrin joined the crew, whereas here it starts interesting and only gets more so from there. In part, this is due to the time gap and breaking of the status quo from the end of the last game, as well as the exploration of the High Republic era, a seldom-explored part of Star Wars history until now.
With all that said, there are still places where Jedi: Survivor falls short. Bugs and performance woes remain for the time being on PC and console versions, with a few times where I had to reset the entire game to continue. It's not exactly unplayable, but it can get irritating.
This is perhaps a nitpick but the traversal animations and particularly the transitions between them, aren't seamless and can look quite awkward at times. Perhaps that's unfair since they have to be that way due to how fast and frantic traversal can be, but it still looks a little odd.
Either way, Jedi: Survivor is a great sequel and an improvement on its predecessor in every way. It would be a stretch to call it this trilogy's 'Empire Strikes Back', but then that comparison is a little overused these days anyway.
8/10
What really impressed me was how deep and varied the game's suite of customizations are, from Cal's entire look to his lightsaber and more. In lieu of this, there's a constant drip-feed of rewards for exploration and discovery in every nook and cranny, whether you're laser-focused on the main quest or not. Your efforts are constantly rewarded with new cosmetics and abilities that more than make up for the ho-hum exploration and level design of the previous game.
This stream of continuous rewards extends to all other aspects of the game too, primarily combat and traversal, with each new (story) area you visit rewarding you with either a new weapon, a new combat ability or a new way to get around the world. It's a simple yet very effective way to keep engaged with the game's already solid pacing while rewarding you with new opportunities to engage with the metroidvania-esque levels and tricky combat arenas.
Speaking of combat, thanks in part to the above plethora of options at your disposal, it's definitely much more enjoyable than Fallen Order. Not that it was bad there, but more so that once you got into a flow state with the combat systems, almost every fight felt like a breeze. Here, though, there's a barrage of new enemy types and weapons for both you and them to adapt to so it never becomes contrived and maintains a consistent ebb and flow between challenge and reward throughout.
When it comes to story and characters, once again, I enjoyed them much more and from earlier on in the game than last time. Fallen Order's story didn't really get intriguing until the back half, especially when Merrin joined the crew, whereas here it starts interesting and only gets more so from there. In part, this is due to the time gap and breaking of the status quo from the end of the last game, as well as the exploration of the High Republic era, a seldom-explored part of Star Wars history until now.
With all that said, there are still places where Jedi: Survivor falls short. Bugs and performance woes remain for the time being on PC and console versions, with a few times where I had to reset the entire game to continue. It's not exactly unplayable, but it can get irritating.
This is perhaps a nitpick but the traversal animations and particularly the transitions between them, aren't seamless and can look quite awkward at times. Perhaps that's unfair since they have to be that way due to how fast and frantic traversal can be, but it still looks a little odd.
Either way, Jedi: Survivor is a great sequel and an improvement on its predecessor in every way. It would be a stretch to call it this trilogy's 'Empire Strikes Back', but then that comparison is a little overused these days anyway.
8/10